App State admits 2,000 transfer students on average yearly, according to “Appalachian Today.” Furthermore, 25% of the university’s undergraduate population is made up of transfer students, with 70% of transfer students coming from community colleges.
“It’s cheaper to go to community college at first,” said Cooper Holbrook, a junior management major who transferred from Guilford Tech. “My experience has been pretty good so far.”
Transfer students at App State have many resources to make their adjustment easier. App State has been named to the transfer honor roll list by Phi Theta Kappa, a nationwide honor society for associate degree-granting universities, for eight consecutive years.
Kim Morton, App State’s director of transfer recruitment and retention, said the three most important things for transfer students to remember are to ask for help, adjust to academic expectations and be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
While transfer students have already experienced college, every institution is different and new students will need help navigating terminology, the campus and university resources, Morton said.
When transfer students are admitted, they are assigned a faculty advisor to make the transition easier. The advisor guides their student through carrying over credits and adjusting to their new school.
Morton said instead of trying to bite off more than they can chew, transfer students should take a balanced approach and take time to adjust to class rigor before getting heavily involved in clubs or work. She said these students have to find a balance between school, social life and work.
Morton emphasized the importance of taking initiative to meet new people on campus. To help with this, transfer students are offered social events to get to know the school and each other better.
Social events are held every Tuesday by Transfer Admissions and Engagement. One such event was a transfer welcome-back pizza party on Jan. 15 in Plemmons Student Union.
One of the students attending this event was Gianluca Di Dio, a junior physics major from Alamance Community College.
“My girlfriend goes here and so do a lot of my friends,” Di Dio said. “I really like this area.”
As is the case with any number of small events in the town of Boone, Hungry Howie’s Pizza catered the event on the Howard’s Knob patio on the third floor of the student union. The pizza was the first of many opportunities to find a community here.
Julia Padgett, a counselor at App State who was working a table at the event, said the most important parts of adjusting for transfer students are finding their people, their resources and their place in Boone.
“It’s important to their mental and emotional health to have a sense of community,” she said.
